Follow Me Into the Dark
by Charox JarKai
Summary: I wonder sometimes if our hearts actually do affect our ability to feel... After our new member joined, it seems like we have more emotion everyday... But that is quite impossible, is it not? Zexion
1. Chapter 1: An Unexpected Arrival

**Chapter One**

It was a normal day in the Dark City, not that we ever see much of interest here, in what we have termed the Twilight World, home to us that belong to neither the light nor the darkness. Memory's Skyscraper loomed over the landscape, dwarfing all but the massive floating Castle That Never Was, and the city was illuminated, as it always was, by the heart-shaped moon, the door to Kingdom Hearts. The taciturn city, dark as it was, still had its own peace, its own beauty, but unfortunately, to my dismay, today it was not so.

"Yeah, and so Axel set Marluxia's garden on fire again. Well, not all of it, but he got a good section of it. And Marluxia…" Demyx, Number IX of our Organization, chattered pointlessly. His title may be the Melodious Nocturne, but honestly, was it really necessary for him to be so noisy?

Sighing, I tuned him out, turning back to my own thoughts. I would have to request that the Superior place me with someone else next time it was my turn for patrol, preferably someone with more respect for silence, perhaps Lexaeus. These so-called "patrols" were rather pointless anyways, as the only beings in the Dark City were us, the lesser Nobodies, and Heartless. I suppose our "patrols" did help to keep the Heartless population in check, and therefore, keep the city from being overrun by Heartless, but besides this, they served little purpose. Vexen's security system was sophisticated enough to track any Heartless, Nobodies, or full beings throughout the city, and would alert us if a full being or intelligent Nobody appeared. Of course, perhaps Xemnas was simply attempting to get those of us not currently on a mission out of the castle, to keep some semblance of control and slightly lessen the inevitable chaos that was sure to occur if more than four of the members were in the castle at once. With Axel and Roxas or Demyx around, each of us, including the Superior, had been "pranked," as they called it, no less than ten times. Shaking my head slightly, I turned from my thoughts, looking around. To my amazement and annoyance, Demyx was //still// talking. Honestly, one must wonder at the amount of oxygen he was using for the simple task of speech. Probably as much as one of Axel's flames.

"…I remember. Axel set Marluxia's robe on fire…"

By Kingdom Hearts, did Number XI not understand the meaning of the simple word "quiet"? Really, it is not a difficult concept. However, if never ceased to amaze me how people insisted on blathering pointlessly all the time. I have nothing against verbal communication, but I choose to speak when necessary, rather than //constantly//.

"And then of course-"

"Demyx, I know this is rather rude of me, but would you, as I think most people say, politely mind shutting up?" I stated blandly.

Thankfully, Demyx FINALLY decided to close his mouth, resulting in blessed silence, and considerably more oxygen available in the immediate area. We continued to walk around the Dark City, occasionally stopping to take out some Heartless. Unfortunately, they put up so little of a challenge that they were hardly worth destroying. Even Demyx, one of our weakest fighters, had no trouble eliminating the Heartless, not even bothering to summon his water clones, but instead decimating Shadows, the weakest Heartless, with waves of water from his weapon, a blue sitar with a shape echoing that of our symbol. I did not even bother summoning my own weapon, which I used in only the direst of circumstances, but instead opted to create illusionary versions of Roxas's keyblades, Oblivion and Oathkeeper, easily taking out the Heartless with them. After a while more of wandering-

"This is boring…"

I should have known that the silence would not last.

Suddenly, a high-pitched shriek cracked the air, cutting off Demyx and making us both jump.

"What the hell was that?"Demyx asked. Usually I would have reprimanded him for such vulgar, and quite unnecessary, language, but I was just as shocked as he was. Number XI glanced around warily as I inhaled deeply, trying to figure out what we had heard.

You see, besides my Nobody gift of Illusion, I was also able to "smell" certain "scents" for lack of better terms. There was the twilight, shadowy scent of a Dusk nearby, along with Demyx's usual scent of the sea and music. Now, as I'm sure many of you will point out, music is a sound, and as such, cannot be smelled, only heard. But, as I previously stated, I only use "scent" for lack of a more fitting term. After all, you can't actually use your olfactory senses to pick up the presence of darkness, can you? I didn't think so. Nevertheless, darkness and light both have their own scent, differing greatly. Music has a "scent" as well, one that is quite colorful, visually equivalent to a rainbow. In addition to Demyx's unique scent, there was a strong scent of darkness around the corner to the right.

"Let's find out. Come on."

I walked towards the source of the dark scent and scream, Demyx following quickly, but warily, behind. As we approached, the scents became more distinct. Replacing the strong scent of darkness was a multitude of weaker darker scents, obviously Shadows. They were clustered together so much that it was difficult to sense their separate presences from a distance. This in itself was unusual, for Heartless generally only gathered in a clump when attacking something- or rather, someone. And underneath these more powerful scents of darkness… there was a weaker one, nearly fading. I could not clearly make it out, so masked by darkness, but the faintness indicated major weakness or injury, and I could tell that it seemed to be a Nobody or full being… strangely, however, it was hard to tell which.

As we rounded the corner, the disturbance became obvious. A young girl, probably no older than seventeen, lay curled on the ground, surrounded by the hordes of Heartless attacking her. Her features were hard to make out, as I could only see glimpses as the attacking Shadows moved. Demyx summoned his weapon, creating his signature water clones to take care of many of the Heartless at once. I chose to summon an illusion of Axel's chakras, except for the fact that they were silver and purple, and shrouded by energy and darkness instead of fire. I may have strongly disliked the annoying red head, but even I would not deny that he had unique and powerful weapons. Between the two of us, the group of Heartless quickly dissipated, leaving us staring at the young female human who remained.

"Damn Shadows…" Demyx hissed, favoring his right shoulder, where one had clipped him with its claws. I had sustained no injuries. Ignoring Demyx's cursing again, I looked at the girl, who appeared moderately injured. Deciding to spare her the immediate torture of Demyx's ramblings, I walked over to her, extending my hand to help her up.

"How badly are you injured?"

The young girl simply stared at me, clearly shaken by her ordeal. I noted the fear and timid look in her eyes, the gaze of one accustomed to being prey. If she were to survive here long, she would have to acclimate quickly, for neither the world of Twilight, nor our Organization, provided any sympathy for those who hide in fear because the night is dark.


	2. Chapter 2: The Girl

**Chapter Two**

"W-who are you two?" she stammered, not meeting my eyes. I withdrew my hand, crossing my arms, as Demyx kneeled next to her, smiling reassuringly.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you! I'm Demyx, and that emo guy over there is Zexion!"

I rolled my eyes at his comment. Unfortunately, I fit the so-called "emo" stereotype. Just because I simply prefer quiet, don't talk much, wear mostly black, and have my hair covering half of my face, does not make me "emo." After all, the entire Organization wears black cloaks, not simply me. Granted, I choose to wear black clothes underneath my cloak as well… but still.

The girl laughed a little at this, uncurling from a ball, but when Demyx continued, "What happened?" her face fell. She looked down not meeting either of our eyes.

"I… I don't know what happened. I don't remember anything… I can't…"

Number IX turned to me with puppy dog eyes, asking silently, 'Can we keep it?'

I sighed, rolling my eyes slightly, but nodded. Demyx's face immediately lit up, and he breathed in deeply, presumably to start chattering again. I decided not to give him the chance and glanced at the prone figure still on the ground.

"Perhaps you should come with us. The streets here are dangerous for those who are injured or weak."

The girl remained silent a moment, giving Demyx a chance to nod and continue eagerly.

"Yeah, we can take you back to where our other friends are! Oh, hey, are you hurt anywhere?"

No, the human girl now lying on the ground just was attacked by a horde of Heartless Shadows and was not injured at all, I thought sarcastically. Number IX's cheerful obliviousness would never cease to amaze me.

"I don't think-" the girl continued, before wincing in obvious pain and looking at her leg. I followed her gaze, noting a fairly deep injury spanning a decent portion of her leg. It was obvious that something, likely the claws of a Heartless, had torn through the cloth of her pants and through her skin down into the muscle. Perhaps she deserved more credit than I originally thought, as most would have been out cold from the pain of such a wound and blood loss. However, despite the fact that she was still conscious, it was obvious that she needed immediate attention.

"Aw man, that looks painful! Damn, we have to take you back to get that taken care of!" Demyx shouted unnecessarily, nearly blowing out my eardrums, not that it was a first. Since it would be less than wise to trust Demyx with an injured person, I knelt down next to her, ripping off the hem of my cloak to wrap up her leg and staunch the flow of blood. As I did so, I got a closer, more detailed, look at the girl.

Her pants, which had been torn through by whatever had inflicted her wound, were a dark brown, though the cuffs were black. Poking out from the bottom of the pants I could see her shoes, a deep violet with black heels. Expertly wrapping the fabric around her leg, as I still a scientist despite my Nobody status and had some experience in medicine, I looked at the rest of her, noting that she was also wearing a pleated dark red skirt. It seemed slightly more than redundant to have a skirt as well as pants, but I suppose it was the "style" or something? I won't even bother attempting to decipher how a female mind, particularly on the topic of "fashion," works…

Besides her rather… redundant skirt and pants combo, she was also wearing a yellow shirt with red sleeves, the bright colors of her outfit looking out of place in the dark world of Twilight, also known as the World that Never Was. Her hair was also slightly unusual, being dirty-blonde near the top and reddish brown at the bottom, roughly the length of Marluxia's. It was not the style that was unusual, but the simple fact that it was multi-colored, which I had never really seen before.

Out of all these strange features, perhaps the most prominent were her piercing eyes. A green-blue color, they were bright and lively, despite her injured state, betraying an innately happy personality, though there were also darker shadows beneath. The girl closed her eyes in pain, and I turned back to her wound, finishing bandaging it up tightly. I suppose for most humans, the girl would be considered rather… "pretty." At least, that's what my vague memories of emotions said.

Standing up, I picked up the girl, careful not to jar her injured leg and cause more pain. She was fairly light, understandable as she was slightly smaller than I, and I am one of the smallest members of the Organization. As I began to walk back through the Dark City to the castle, Demyx looked up, surprised.

"W-woah!"

"Come on, Demyx, let's go," I stated without bothering to turn around. Sure enough, I soon heard and scented him as he ran behind me, catching up quickly with his longer legs.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

* * *

_Hey, thanks for reading my story! I posted the first chapter yesterday, and I've already gotten two reviews and 24 visitors! You guys are awesome! :D I just wanted to post the first chapter and see how people liked it, and it seems you like it so far, so I'll keep posting. I've already got the first few chapters typed up, so those will be updated relatively quickly, probably in the next couple of weeks. After that, I'll try to update weekly if I can, but that may be difficult with school, as I've heard Junior year is… less than fun. XD Really, thank you all, and please keep reading and review if you like it (or even if you don't XD). Constructive criticism is much appreciated, since this is only my first story, and I'd like to improve my writing style and technique. Thanks again, and please R&R! :)_

_~Charok Jarkai_


	3. Chapter 3: Return to the Castle

**Chapter Three**

After a short time, the castle stood looming before us. I allowed Demyx to pass me and open the door, seeing as my hands were somewhat full. Obviously, it would have been considerably easier to simply use a corridor of darkness to take the girl to the castle, but I was not sure if such strong, concentrated darkness would negatively affect her already injured and weak body, which had been bombarded by the darkness of the Heartless barely a quarter hour before. In addition, she still had a heart, and a strange scent, making it even more likely that the darkness could possibly affect her in a less than favorable way.

Demyx opened the large doors leading into the Castle That Never Was, and I walked in, Demyx following close behind and shutting the doors. I scented Marluxia briefly before he appeared, poking his head out of a nearby doorway and blinking groggily at us. Marluxia, Number XI of the Organization, the Graceful Assassin, was not particularly a person of the night, preferring to rise as his plants did, with the ascent of the sun in the sky.

"Keep it down, would you?" he yawned, covering his mouth. He stopped with his mouth partly open as he comprehended the scene, his eyes widening slightly in surprise as he sighed.

"…Dammit Demyx, what did you make Zexion bring back?" Honestly, was the language really necessary…? But I digress.

Indignant, Demyx stared straight back.

"I didn't make him bring anything back! Besides, he was the one who carried her here, and she needs help, she was bleeding and on the ground and there were Heartless and-"

Annoyed, Marluxia shoved Demyx into the wall before walking over to the girl, who I had briefly set down. I glanced at him as he kneeled down next to her.

"We found her in the Dark City, collapsed after battling or running from the Heartless. We have no idea who she is, or possibly, who she was, or where she came from…"

"That's an interesting story…" Marluxia replied, gently turning her head towards him with his hand. The girl visibly stiffened at his touch.

Of course, now that Demyx had been quiet a grand total of ten seconds after being thrown into the wall, which he was rather accustomed to by now…

"Zexion, her injury!"

I glanced at him in annoyance, rolling my eyes slightly. Did he think I would just let the girl die? That would be rather… heartless, even for me.

"Relax, Demyx, she is fairly stable at the moment. Bring her to Vexen, he should have adequate medical supplies for this type of injury." Not to mention plenty of other "equipment," as he calls it, for his experiments…

"But he might…" Turn her into something or experiment on her? Well, it was not unheard of… but he would not dare touch her until the Superior learned of her presence. Besides, Vexen was a fellow scientist, brilliant even when he had his heart and Number IV of the Organization. As such, I generally trusted him.

"Number IX, that was an order. He will not harm her, and she needs blood."

He glanced at me, looking like a scolded puppy, but nevertheless, picked up the girl and walked off. I sighed, holding my head with my hand.

"So it looks like you've brought a new toy for us to play with, Number VI," Marluxia smirked at me. "She looks like she will be quite interesting…"

"Number XI, the Superior will decide her fate. I am sure he will tell us more tomorrow. Goodnight."

I walked away, towards my room, feeling Marluxia's questioning gaze for a moment until he headed back to his own. Approaching my room, I half-smiled, scenting someone nearby.

"Axel, surely you should be asleep at this late hour?"

The fiery red-head, Number VIII of our Organization, also known as the Flurry of Dancing Flames, stepped out of the shadows, grinning widely at me.

"Well, Zexy, aren't you supposed to still be on patrol?"

"Don't call me Zexy, Axel. We found someone in the city, a young girl.

His jade eyes widened in surprise slightly.

"A Nobody?"

I shook my head.

"She has a heart, as far as I can tell. Demyx took her to Vexen to stitch up a wound in her leg, as well as give her some blood. She appears to be around Roxas's 'age.'"

I watched in amusement as Number VIII crossed his arms, looking just a tad annoyed.

"I suppose… another kid his age besides Namine will do him some good."

I grinned slightly at his reaction.

"Calm down, Flurry. This girl doesn't seem like the Key's type."

He raised an eyebrow at me, looking slightly bemused.

"Schemer, why exactly would I care what the Key's type is?"

Glancing up at him, my grin widened. Instead of answering him, I simply opened the door of my room.

"Goodnight, Number VIII. As I said, don't worry about the new girl. Number XIII will remain yours."

As I stepped into my room and closed the door, I heard a slightly taken aback Axel comment behind me.

"Zexy, you see more than you let on… 'night."

I felt his scent of fire and smoke grow fainter as he walked away towards his own room. I allowed myself to relax, hanging up my coat near the door and removing my boots. Realizing I still head the girl's blood and scent on me, I grabbed my coat and tossed it into the basket, catching a whiff of her scent, one of rain and flowers- snapdragons, I believe-, now that it was no longer masked by the scent of Heartless. I glanced upwards, recognizing the same scent in the Superior's room. Vexen must have already fixed her leg. I shook my head slightly, wondering why I was still thinking of the girl, and then took a shower to get her blood and scent off of me. I prepared myself for bed as usual, picking up a book about illusions and reading some of the ancient text before I went to sleep. Even with this distraction, my last though before drifting off to sleep was wondering what the girl's fate would be…

* * *

_Hey guys, sorry, but I won't have another chapter up tonight most likely. My family took a short vacation this weekend, and I haven't had a chance to type of Chapter 4 yet. I'll have it up early this week hopefully. Sorry guys, hope you'll keep reading._

_Charox JarKai_


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